#233: How Do I Measure ROI as a Content Creator?

Welcome back to another episode of the Course Creation Incubator podcast. I’m your host, Gina Onativia, here to help you take your message from one one’s to the masses to go out to your market in a bigger way, whether it’s a workshop, a course, group coaching, whatever it looks like for you, hoping to inspire you to take action.

Today we’re talking about one of my favorite topics, which is content marketing. And specifically, how do you get a sense of ROI? Because if you’re like most course creators, business owners, entrepreneurs, you’re putting time, energy and money into videos or blogs or podcasts or social media. And how do you know if it’s actually working for you and or how do you know if you should launch something else or something new?

So in today’s episode, we’ll walk through a few points of consideration to help you think about if it’s worth it. If you’re getting the ROI and spoiler alert. I’m hopefully going to talk you into investing some time and energy into content marketing. I was just looking at some stats before I started to record businesses that prioritize content marketing.

See a six time hire conversion rates that those that don’t. Content marketing cost 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about three times as many leads. That’s why it’s worth thinking about for you. We’re going to talk more about the benefits, but I wanted to throw out a few stats for you. Now, this episode is brought to you by our Done for You services.

One of our services is talking about content marketing as part of your greater customer journey package. We don’t just do courses, we do website development, back end customer journeys. If you’re interested in applying for done for you services, we only take two clients a quarter. Go to course creation boutique dot com slash course, fill out the short application that we have and then we can book a call together.

Now this podcast is very timely for me because one I just took this course about how to explain our ROI of content marketing, specifically social media to execs. Because as a boutique owner, as an agency owner, we of course have to persuade different clients about the impact of content marketing of social media. So that’s number one. Number two, it’s a busy season right now, busier than ever.

And I was saying to the team, Hey, do you think we should press pause on the podcast because we’re busier than ever? There’s a lot going on. We pause for the next three months and then we pick it back up. Maybe we think about seasons of a podcast and I have to give my team credit. David and Robin, they said, Hey, you’ve got a passionate audience here and you’re putting out timely topics because that’s why I said I said, Hey, I want to make sure in the age of AI that I’m putting out something that’s relevant still in terms of online marketing.

I don’t want to sound like somebody who’s stuck in a world that’s ten years old that’s talking about different tactics that don’t work anymore. So my team was really great. They said, Hey, what if we went to an every other week cadence? We’re still putting out thought leadership. You’re still sharing your expertise. You’re still connecting to your passionate base.

And it’s a little less of a list. Gives us time to really be thoughtful about what we want to talk about. So for the next few months, we will be going to every other week with this podcast. I hope you’ll stick with us because we’re doing it for you guys so you get the insights and expertise and you hear me rant and you hear me workshop.

So we’re sticking. We’re sticking with it because we’re committed to it. And I’m committed to you guys. I love doing it. Just sometimes when life gets busy. That’s the thing about content marketing. We think, Oh, is this really worth it? And the truth is, it is worth it. So let’s talk through some of the benefits. Like if you’re questioning your are why posting content consistently has huge benefits.

When you share content regularly, you one showcase your expertise and you can become the go to authority in your niche. If you’re not talking about trends. If I’m not talking about trends, I’m not talking about thought leadership, then how am I going to show that I’m the go to expert in what I do in courses in marketing, in website development and brand development.

I’m not. So I’ve got to be able to put my voice out there sharing trends and sharing thought leadership. So that’s number one. Second, it helps you build trust and credibility so people can know, like and ultimately trust you because no one trusts anyone anymore. Right? In this environment, it’s so hard. There’s so many voices out there and there’s so much misinformation out there.

Fake news is everywhere. Once upon a time, I was a journalism student and I was terrified of getting a detail wrong. And now everybody’s posting all these really wrong details all over the Internet. And who can you trust? Well, if you’re putting out content week to week or in our case, for a little bit every other week, you’re saying, hey, I want you to trust me.

I’m here. I’m committed to you and I want you to learn a little bit about me. And hopefully if we are connecting each and every week or every other week, you’re learning to trust me. I talk about Bo Eason, former NFL player, storyteller, trainer, bestselling author, and Bo’s got an email that goes out every week without fail, and that is his way to connect and say, I am here for you.

Whatever you’re going through, I am here to share my feelings. My philosophy is to help you raise your game, to help you tell your story in a different way. And that consistency is just critical when you’re connecting with people before you ask for the sale. You also want to stay top of mind, making it more likely that folks will think of you when they’re ready to buy.

Buying cycles are longer than ever, especially if you’re seeing your financial advisor or you have a higher ticket and you are working to convert somebody over months, over years. You want to stay top of mind when they’re finally ready to convert. And content marketing is the best way to do that. You also want to grow your audience organically.

I talked to so many different advisors who are buying lists or buying appointments because they don’t have a content strategy. Or for those of you who are referral based, I was just talking to somebody who’s B2B, completely referral based, and she was telling me that when she sends out cold outreach, she doesn’t get a lot of hits because people don’t know her, because she doesn’t have thought leadership out there.

She doesn’t have an established organic presence. So it’s an uphill grind for her to get attention. When you create an organic content strategy, people listen. People pay attention because you’ve put in the work and you’ve put in your expertise in a way that speaks their language. So if you’re tired of paying for lists or paying for appointments or paying for leads, an organic strategy is key.

Here’s another reason you’re generating leads and opportunities that may not appear immediately, but pay off over time. You never know what’s going to happen. I’ve learned from this podcast, you never know who’s listening because I’ll get somebody. I’ll get an email out of the blue. Someone said, Hey, I love listening to your podcast. You want to come do a workshop for us?

And that those kind of opportunities wouldn’t come along unless I was putting out this podcast on a regular basis. And then, of course, content marketing amplifies your personal brand and reinforces your unique voice and story. I talked about Bo. Bo encourages us to share our unique personal stories. There’s no better way to do that than through content marketing.

Then through this expression that you’re sharing each and every week. And by the way, doesn’t have to be a podcast, doesn’t have to be videos that you’re sending out each week can be on social, you can have a LinkedIn newsletter, you can be posting regularly on Instagram, whatever it looks like for you. It’s consistent. It’s connecting with the people that matter most to you.

So if you are questioning your own ROI around content marketing, here are a few points or questions to keep in mind. I want you to have clarity around your goals and what’s your outcome? Are you looking to grow your email list? Sell courses, book clients, build authority so you can put your next offer out. I remember this was a few years ago.

I had a chef come to me and she said, I’m going to record 25 cooking videos this weekend. I can’t wait. I said, Okay, great. What are you going to do with these videos? And it was crickets. So here she was about to go into a studio, had all this kitchen equipment, and she was going to record these great videos.

But for what? There was no clarity there. There was no end in mind. She knew she needed content marketing. She knew she needed the videos, which I applaud. Love that. And she wanted to go out in a big way. But when you go out in a big way and there’s no plan behind it, then you’re really not going to see the R why you’re really not going to see the impact of what’s behind it.

So how is she going to measure the success of those 25 videos unless she says, okay, I’m going to use these 25 videos as a content run up to my launch and I’m going to send them out over the next two months or whatever. It looks like three months as the content run up. And then I’ll measure success this way.

Okay, great. That’s something that we can go back and measure. So keep that in mind. What is your success measurement? What are you looking for? For us, we’re looking for leads. We’re looking to show off my expertise. So when I do get on a call with someone, they say, Hey, I listen to the podcast. I love what you’re saying, love your approach.

Want to do business with you. A second point is that consistency beats perfection when it comes to content marketing. You won’t see ROI from one blog or one video or one podcast, but consistent high value content builds trust. Visibility leads over time. So that’s why when I said to my team, I knew it was all or nothing. And I like that they proposed every other week because I could still deliver consistently and have a commitment because I know it’s not just one podcast.

Every once in a while I wasn’t going to be one of those podcasters that just pops in whenever I feel like it. I know that’s not how the relationship works. It builds over time. I understand that like those emails build over time. Also, think about looking beyond immediate sales, because I think a lot of times people think, Oh, I’m going to release my videos and it’s going to immediately mean I have eight new customers in the next three months.

Content marketing doesn’t really work that way. It’s a nurturing strategy. It’s a long tail strategy that helps you build your audience, create partnerships or open doors for future opportunities. I remember we were supporting an author. She had a new book and she had social media. She was dabbling in social media, but we helped her amplify her socials, especially Instagram, in a lot bigger way, consistently posting four times a week up until her book launch.

And because of that, she got opportunities. She got not just podcast guesting inquiries and media, but speaking inquiries. She got a big gig from her social media, somebody reaching out and saying, I love what you’re posting here, let’s talk. So you never know the opportunities that are going to come up from your content marketing. All right. In closing, I already mentioned this, but it’s a long tail.

We’re in it for the long haul. This is not a sprint. It is a marathon. Anything worth doing is worth practicing and doing for the long haul. I’ve been frustrated with my running because I’m at this five K running condition right now and I want to get into the ten K condition. I know I need to work on it so I know I need to put in the hours, I need to practice, I need to do the races, I need to get better each time and I need to mentally focus on it and make it a priority.

Same thing for content marketing. Put the love in the thought into it and it will pay off for you in the long run. All right. Hopefully this was helpful for you. If you feel this podcast has helped you, please leave me a review. I would love it. And until next week, go create be you and be brilliant and get it done.